Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Hillary Clinton superdelegate, is taking aim at at the GOP front-runner not with a political attack ad — but a humorous Donald Trump impression.

The Democrat — a wealthy and successful former businessman himself — was asked Tuesday about how he managed to secure $8 million in the lean state budget for a cybersecurity initiative in Colorado Springs. For his answer, he channeled his inner-Trump and invoked “The Art of the Deal.” It’s not quite Johnny Depp on Funny or Die’s biopic, but take a look.

Colorado state Rep. Clarice Navarro, talks with her then 5-year-old daughter, Jorji, during the opening day of the legislative session in 2013. (File photo by Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Rep. Clarice Navarro, a Republican from Pueblo, says in an editorial that political attempts aimed at equal pay is more about politics than equal pay.

“Pay equity is already a Colorado policy,” she writes. “Creating additional legislation is a waste of time that serves political posturing more than it does the strong and hardworking women of this great state. As a woman, a minority and an elected official this legislation is certainly not on my agenda.”

House Democrats offered up four bills this session. House Bill 1001 to require contractors doing business with the state to meet equal-pay standards was killed in a Republican-led Senate committee on March 30. That same day, Senate Republicans killed another piece of legislation: House Bill 1166, to block would-be employers from asking about salary history, which proponents said would ahve helped women who earn less.

Five of the Colorado House Democrats’ chief advocates for equal pay say in a jointly written editorial the reason they carried legislation this year was to move Colorado “closer to the day when every individual earns what he or she deserves, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation.”

Tuesday is national Equal Pay Day, which activists say represents the number of days in this year that the average working woman needed this year to make the same amount of money as her average male counterpart did last year. Events nationally include President Obama dedicating a monument to women’s equality near the White House.

Democrats made equal pay a priority this year. During the session, Democratic Reps. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge and Janet Buckner of Aurora sponsored House Bill 1001 to require any company that bids on state contracts to meet equal-pay standards. Senate Republicans killed the legislation in committee on March 30.

Dave Montez, the executive director of One Colorado, was not at a loss for words when a state Senate committee killed a ban on gay conversion therapy Monday. It was the second year in a row the Republican-led Senate killed such a bill after it passed out of the state House, where Democrats have the majority.

The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee killed the bill on a party-line vote. Though hardly a surprise, the defeat was a setback for the organization that represents the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.

Montez said the state’s LGBT community will focus on making its feelings known in this fall’s elections.

WASHINGTON — With little happening in Congress nowadays, a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration has become a hot target for lawmakers looking to get something into law — and Colorado’s two U.S. senators are no exception.

The FAA bill is up for debate this week and Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is pushing to attach an amendment that would bar aircraft from using federal airspace to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to anywhere in the U.S.

It’s “another avenue to stop the transfer of terrorists to our backyards,” he said in a statement.

The provision is Gardner’s latest salvo in a long-running fight against the administration and its effort to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

All the top Republicans for U.S. Senate made a big push to win votes at the state GOP convention Saturday except one candidate.

Jon Keyser skipped the state convention to compete Saturday in the so-called “Sheldon Adelson primary” at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s meeting in Las Vegas, where he rubbed shoulder with big-time donors.

The former state lawmaker from Morrison attended the state party’s congressional district meetings and Centennial Dinner on Friday in Colorado Springs and then boarded a 7:55 a.m. Southwest flight Saturday from Denver to Las Vegas.

The Denver Post received photos of Keyser on the plane, wearing a dark suit and light blue shirt and sporting silver headphones, and his campaign confirmed the trip Saturday.

Two little-known candidates at the Colorado GOP convention surged into the spotlight with big speeches that help push them to victories despite long odds.

At the 5th Congressional District convention Friday, Calandra Vargas, a 32-year-old first-time candidate, stunned longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, winning 58 percent of the vote to secure a spot on the June primary ballot. Lamborn took just 35 percent — 18 votes shy of being kicked out of the race.

The next day, El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn upset the Republican U.S. Senate race when he took 70 percent of the vote, shutting out nine other challengers including state Sen. Tim Neville, who won just 18 percent. Again, his convention speech is credited with pushing him to the top.

A screenshot from Michael Bennet’s first TV ad in the 2016 U.S. Senate campaign in Colorado.

Seven months before Election Day, Democrat Michael Bennet is launching his first TV ad in his U.S. Senate re-election bid.

The 30-second spot that debuts Thursday is designed to tout his record of accomplishments and define his brand early in the campaign — before his Republican rivals get a chance to do it for him. (See ad below.)

“Michael is proud of his record of finding ways to get things done for Colorado, despite the dysfunction going on in Washington,” said Andrew Zucker, who joined the Bennet campaign as spokesman Wednesday.

The early spot — part of an ongoing TV campaign in coming months — also showcases Bennet’s huge campaign cash advantage in the race. He started the year with $6.7 million in the bank and will report his first quarter haul later this month.

Caleb Bonham, at left, and Kyle Forti, co-founders, of the D/CO Consulting in Denver are taking over the client list of the conservative power-player political firm Avinova Media Group.

Colorado’s political up-and-comers D/CO Consulting just became power players. Co-founders Kyle Forti and Caleb Bonham are taking over a list of more than 140 clients from the well-known Avinova Media Group.

Avinova founder Jeff Hunt became executive director of the conservative Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University last October.

On the Avinova website, Hunt told clients D/CO “will help take you to the next level, and I look forward to your continued success.

An file photo shows an aerial view of the VA hospital construction site in Aurora. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman is asking the VA to see if anyone should face criminal charges for the agency’s $1.7 billion hospital in Aurora, a project that’s been called the biggest construction failure in VA history.

His request follows the announcement last month that no one else at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs needed to be punished for the mismanaged effort, which saw its cost nearly triple from $604 million in 2011 to about $1.7 billion last year.

Coffman, R-Aurora, was one of several Colorado lawmakers to criticize the decision and in a letter sent Wednesday he asked that the VA take a second look at recent inquiries into the project and “determine if criminal referrals are appropriate.”

“American taxpayers and members of Congress are still searching for answers as to how the costs of the Aurora project could have escalated from roughly $604 million to $1.73 billion seemingly overnight,” wrote Coffman, who co-signed the letter with U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y.

Both are members of the House veterans committee.

In their letter, they highlight past testimony by VA officials to Congress and raise concerns that these witnesses “consistently presented what appears to have been a knowingly inaccurate picture of the Aurora project.”

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.